3rd Person POV
"KYAAAAA!"
Ashes ran away from the Wind Guzzler and down into one of the empty streets as the monster crashed into and collapsed one of the empty houses as it charged and attempted to eat Ashes.
"HISSSSS!"
The monster hissed at Ashes as it pulled its body out of the collapsed house and resumed its chase. The monster quickly began to catch up and once it was close opened its mouth and attempted to swallow the girl whole. Just as the monster attempted to swallow how Ashes barely dived to the side as the force and speed the monster moved at buried its head completely in the ground.
"Ow!"
Ashes yelled in pain as she was sent flying from the shockwave and hit the wall of a nearby house.
Ashes teared up from the pain and struggled to stand back up but grit her teeth and stood back up and ran away from the flailing monster. She soon spotted a house further up a different street that had its door open and sprinted into the house and closed the door.
The Wind Guzzler began to flail its body around as it attempted to yank its head out of the ground multiple times and eventually pulled it's head out and began to search for Ashes and swung its tail at a nearby house completely destroying it.
Ashes attempted to stay hidden until the monster had moved away to another area so she took shelter under a countertop of the house she was in and curled up and waited as she heard the monster continue its search. Fate however was cruel as the Wind Guzzler smashed the upper level of the house she was in and spotted her.
As the house was smashed Ashes quickly crawled out from under the countertop and tried to escape until the monster climbed into the ruined house and raised one of its legs and attempted to crush the girl under its foot and barely missed but force of stomp sent the girl flying into the debris of the houses upper level that fell to the lower level. Once Ashes landed near the debris she saw the monster quickly locate her and the girl crawled into the debris as the Wind Guzzler stuck its head in the debris and attempted to drag Ashes out.
As it continued to try and grab Ashes, the girl backed away further into the debris and, when the monster got too close Ashes grapped a piece of broken stone and stabbed it into the top part of its mouth.
The monster recoiled from the stab and hissed at the debris. Soon it opened its mouth and began to inhale and as if acting as a vacuum the debris began to move and soon pieces of wood and stone flew towards the monsters mouth as the sac under its jaw slowly inflated and began to fill with the debris of the house.
Ashes grabbed onto a large piece of stone and desperately clutched the stone as the wind started to pick up. The large stone began to move and Ashes felt her grip begin to loosen and she prepared for the worst.
"Hey Asshole!"
The monster startled by the voice stopped what it was doing and looked in the direction of the voice and saw a bright red glow. Ashes also opened her eyes as she recognized the voice and spotted the same red glow. Before the monster or Ashes could see what the bright glow was, a deafening sound exploded from the glow.
BANG
In an instant the Wind Guzzler lost one of its eyes.
-----------------------------------------------------------
A Few Minutes Earlier
Gale ran towards the town as fast as he could after discovering the dissappearance of the dragon demihuman.
'System!'
Gale looked at his system and checked his total HP.
[18/20] HP
Most of his injuries from the escape on the island had healed and he was mentally preparing himself to fight against he might find until he was called out by Codec.
"What's going on! Where are you running to?!" Yelled Codec at the sprinting boy.
" You saw what happened! Ashes might be in danger!" Replied Gale.
"I thought you completed your promise and didn't want anything else to do with her?!"
"I know what I said ok! I just..."
"Just what?"
"I just can't leave her while she might be in danger! I don't know why! I just can't!"
"...Ok. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
Gale held up the handgun he grabbed from the outpost.
"How do I use this? It's not like any of the guns from my world and I can't tell if its loaded amd I don't see any safeties."
"Hmmmm... I'm not sure but.... oh I know what we could do!"
As soon as the floating AI said this it pulled up the system window and began to activate something unknown to Gale and soon a small notification appeared in front of him
[Equipment Identify] activated
"What is this?"
" All those who hold a system have the ability to check the name, durability and special abilities of any equipment they touch. You also be able to see how certain weapons work as well!"
"Why wasn't this on from the beginning?"
"... I may have forgotten to activate it."
Gale put off scolding the AI for later and looked at the weapons he grabbed.
Mana Pistol (Fire Crystal Loaded)
Durability 50/50
A weapon that fires mana bullets that changes depending on the mana crystal loaded. Can be fired by infusing users mana into the weapon and pulling the trigger. Mana bullets can be enhanced depending on amount of mana weapon is infused with.
Elemental Grenade x 3 (Fire)
(One Time Use)
An explosive infused with shards of dormant elemental mana crystals that can be set off by pulling the pin of the explosive and causing a spark in the grenade that will activate the dormant crystals and explode after five seconds.
As Gale read the descriptions of the items he remembered the grenade he tossed at Rekka. He didn't know what the yellow grenade would do but he simply pulled the pin and tossed it at the cruel woman hoping it would put her down. He now understood the explosive yellow light to have been a reaction of the shards of crystals contained in the explosive; most likely lightning.
Gale felt he had no problem using the grenades but doubted his ability to use the pistol reliably. He had zero clue on how to infuse the gun with mana and had no experience in using mana in general.
BOOM
As Gale neared the entrance of the town he heard what sounded like a wall being crashed into and the sounds of a girl screaming and sped up towards the sound and readied the pistol.
"Codec how do I use mana?!"
"I-I'm not sure! I believe you're supposed to feel something in the center of your chest and just below your heart?"
Gale tried to focus for anything in his chest but could only feel his heartbeat.
BOOM! CRASH!
The sounds of destruction grew louder as Gale passed the towns entrance and ran on the empty streets. He grit his teeth in frustration and continued to sprint towards the sounds.
Gale eventually arrived at the source of the destructive sounds and found a giant lizard like creature sticking its head in a pile of debris attempting to grab something with its mouth. Gale got closer to the creature and with the stance and knowledge of an amateur aimed the pistol at the monster and attempted to use his mana.
'Come on... give me something!'
Gale tried his best to use even a little bit of mana, to no avail and could feel his heartbeat quicken as he saw the monster begin to open its mouth and inhale the debris. In the debris he could see Ashes desperately hold on to a piece of broken stone. Once Gale saw this he could feel a strange sensation in his chest.
It was a warm sensation that began to fill his chest that spread along his whole body and filled it with a strength he never felt before and soon a notification popped up.
[Jack of All Trades] Activated
'Wait I shouldn't hold the gun like this.'
As if his mind and body went on auto pilot he moved his hands clutching the weapon and instead of the amateurish way he held the gun he instead ever so slightly changed the way he held it.
'My hands should be more relaxed... I should be holding it like this as well... my legs should be placed like this as well.
As if he had done this a hundred times before, Gale aimed the gun at the monster in a more proper stance and could feel the sensation that filled his body flow towards the gun in his hand. Lines began to appear on the gun as if they were circuts and began to glow a bright red as Gale honed in on the monster and called out to it.
"Hey Asshole!"
As the monster stopped what it was doing and looked towards him; Gale pulled the trigger. A powerful mana bullet flew from the gun at an incredible speed and force that nearly sent the boy flying and found its mark and took the monsters eye.